Apparatus for purging containers



Jan. 9, 1951 G; B LONG 2,537,416

7 APPARATUS FOR PURGING CONTAINERS Filed July 24, 1946 INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 9, 1951 APPARATUS FOR PURGING CONTAINERS George B. Long, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application July 24, 1946, Serial No. 686,019

1- This invention relates in a general way' to refrigerating apparatus but more particularly to a method of and apparatus for purging or dehydrating small containers such as may be used in parts of a refrigerating system Many small parts require thorough purging or dehydration before completion or assembling into a system. Heretofore, much time, expense and labor were expended in accomplishing this.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved and simple method of an apparatus for purging or dehydrating small containers which is rapid, thorough and inexpensive.

It is another object of my invention to provide an improved and simplified method of an apparatus for purging or dehydrating small containers in which the connections are not heated to as high a temperature as the containers.

v It is another object of my invention to provide an improved and simplified method of apparatus for purging or dehydrating small containers in which the container may be rapidly connected and disconnected from the purging or dehydrating apparatus.

It is another object of my invention to provid an improved and simplied method of an apparatus for purging or dehydrating small containers in which the container may be rapidly heated.

It is another object of my invention to provide an improved and simplified method of and apparatus for purging or dehydrating small containers in which the containers may be rapidly purged or dehydrated singly or in small groups to provide a substantially continuous uniform flow of dehydrated or purged containers.

To obtain these objects I have provided an apparatus with a movable fixture capable of supporting the container to be dehydrated and having a coupling by which connection is rapidly and easily made with the purging or dehydrating apparatus. The fixture is movable so as to carry the container into and out of a hot vapor by which it is heated while the coupling is kept out of the zone of highest temperature. The container, while it is heated by the hot vapor, is alternately evacuated and charged with a dry gas until substantially all moisture is removed.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic sectional view of an apparatus for carrying out one form of my improved method; and v 3 Claims. (Cl. 34-92) 2 Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the coupling" shown in Fig; 1.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a small container such as a bellows 203; which is intended for use in controlling arefrigerant system. The bellows 20 is connected to a small tube 22 which may be of capillary size which; when completed, may be closed at the end and be used as a thermal element. The bellows 20' is supported upon a fixture 24 which is hinged by.

:the hinge 26 to the side of a vessel 28- which is enclosed within the insulation 30. The fixture 24 is provided with a coupling 32 for connecting the capillary tube 22 through a tubular connection 34 and a two-way valve 36 with a source ofvacuum The grommet 42 is provided with a hollow chambottom of the vessel 28.

her which is filled with air under pressure sup-' plied through the flexible conduit 46' from the source of air pressure 48 under the control of a valve 50. To seal the end of the capillary tube'22 in the coupling 32, the valve 50 is moved to con-1i meet the source of air pressure 48' with the air chamber in the grommet 42. To release the tube from the grommet, the valve 5!] is operated to release the air from the air chamber in the grom"-"-' met 42.

The fixture 24 is pivoted down into the vessel 28 as shown in Fig. 1, or it may be raised to a hori zontal position. The vessel 28 contains a volatile liquid 52 in its lower portion, for example, tetra-' chloroethylene. In contact with the bottom of the vessel 28 is a sheathed electric heating means 54 by which the volatile liquid is heated so that the vapor will contact and condense upon the contamer-'20 to heat the container 29 to a temperature of about 240 to 250 F. To preventthe escape of the vapor from the vessel 28 and to prevent the coupling 32 from becoming too warm, a series of cooling coils 56 in the form of tubing raised around the upper portion of the vessel 28 is supplied with cooling water from the cooling water supply source 58. Any vapor rising to the edges of the vessel 23 will be condensed upon the coolingcoils 56 and returned by gravity to the In operation, a bellows and capillary tube assemblysuch as the bellows 20 and the tube 22 are placed upon the fixture 24 when the fixture 24 is in a horizontal position and the tube 22 is inserted in the grommet 42 as shown in Fig. 2.

Pressure is then applied from'the air pressure source 48 by opening the valve 58 The fixture 24 and the bellows 22 are then pivoted to the position shown in Fig. 1. During normal operations, the heater 54 continuously heats the volatile liquid 52 so that the hot vapor existing in the lower portion of the vessel 28 will rapidly heat the bellows to a temperature between about 240' to 250F. As soon as the bellows 25 becomes heated, the valve 38 is manipulated to alternately connect the interior of the coupling 32 to the source of vacuum. 38 and to the source of dry gas 40 such as air or nitrogen. Within several minutes the container 20 will be satisfactorily purged and dehydrated after which the fixture 24 may be raised and the valve 50 manipulated to release the air pressure from the air chamber in the grommet 42 so that the bellows 20 and the tube 22 may be removed and anotherbelows assembly placed in the fixture 24 and connected by the coupling to the purging apparatus. The coil 56 is continuously supplied with cooling water to prevent theescape of vapor from the vessel 2 7 If other heating temperatures are desired, other'volatile liquids such as trichloroethylene may be used. By this method the bellows may be rapidly dehydrated so that a continuous supply of purged and dehydrated bellows may fiow along the production line in manufacturing and assembling.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1'. A purging apparatus including a vessel adapted to contain a volatile liquid, a fixture for supporting a container to be purged, movable mounting means for mounting said fixture for movement into and out of said vessel, a second means providinga vacuum and a source of dry gas, a coupling mounted upon said movable fixture connected to said second means, said coupling being provided with a sealing grommet for providing a sealed connection with the interior of said container, means for applying a pressure to said grommet for sealing said connection, means for heating the volatile liquid to cause the vapor to heat the container in the vessel, and sl means for controlling said second means to alternately apply a vacuum and forcing the dry gas into the container.

2. A purging apparatus including a vessel adapted to contain a volatile liquid, a fixture having one portion pivotally connected to said vessel and having a second portion mounted to swing upon said pivotal connection into and out of said vessel, said second portion having means for supporting a container to be purged above the surface of the volatile liquid in the vessel, 21. second means providing a vacuum and a source of dry gas, coupling means mounted upon said fixture for coupling said container to said second means, means for heating said volatile liquid to cause the vapor to heat the container upon the fixture in the vessel, and means for controlling said second means to alternately apply a vacuum and forcing the dry gas into the container.

3. A purging apparatus including a vessel, means for heating the interior of the vessel, a fixture for supporting a container to be purged, means for pivotally mounting said fixture for movement into and out of said vessel, a third means providing avacuum and a source of dry gas, a coupling means mounted upon said fixturefor coupling said container to said third means, and means for controlling said third means to alternately apply a vacuum and forcing the dry gas into the container.

GEORGE E. LONG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Number Name Date 544,373 Patterson et al Aug. 13, 1895 686,772 Seltzer Nov. 19, 1901 1,059,820 Besemfelder Apr. 22, 1913 1,629,174 Patton May 1.7, 1927 1,800,085 Kroeger et al Apr. 7, 1931- 1,866,346 Clark July 5, 1932 2,156,945 Gentele May 2, 1939v 2,223,583 Watson et a1 .Dec. 3, 1940- 2,277,030 Anderson Mar. 24, 1942 2,281,079 Rollins Apr. 28, 1942 2,293,453 Clark Aug. 18, 1942 2,295,912 Pagenkopf Sept. 15, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date I 378,299 Great Britain Aug. 11, 1932' 395,535 Great Britain July 20, 1933 

